Chastity Belts – Part 2 – Not Unheard of Even Today!

Following on from last week’s article on “Chastity Belts – Fact or Fiction?” let’s take a look at modern-day anecdotes on the use of these truly medieval devices.

While not uncommonly seen in the BDSM community and underground kink stores, there are cases over the world, even in the twenty-first century, of the use of chastity belts to prevent women from participating in sexual activity. Read on...

Indian Women Forced into Chastity Belts

The Asian Human Rights Commission reported in 2007 that women in the Rajasthan region of India were being forced to wear chastity belts. These devices caused severe injury and bleeding. One woman was found haemorrhaging on a bus; when she was taken to hospital, she was found to be locked into a metal chastity belt.

Women’s rights in this region, one of India’s most popular tourist areas, are appalling, and the practice of forcing women to wear these medieval devices is widespread. Women there are frequent victims of violent acts at the hands of men, and are bartered for and forced into marriages, their value to men on par with that of cattle. More highly educated women are worth less in dowry within Rajasthan’s middle class society. The forcible use of a chastity belt is yet another consequence of the abominable way in which these women are viewed.

Chinese Wooing Device

In 2012, a man aged in his 50s presented himself at the Changchun World Sculpture Park – naked except for footwear and a homemade chastity belt. Bearing signs advertising his availability for marriage, the man depicted himself as an inventor, philosopher, poet, and holder of a doctoral degree. His chastity belt represented his willingness to be faithful to his future wife.

Image: Chinanews.com

Holiday Without Hubby? Time to Lock Up!

A British woman set off security alarms on her arrival in Athens, as reported in 2006. Security staff found she was wearing a metal chastity belt; her husband had insisted she wear it for the duration of her holiday in Greece, so he need not be concerned that she may indulge in an affair during his absence. Nothing like a little trust!

Protection from Men?

The July 2000 Australian Cosmopolitan Magazine carried a story on Chinese women in Indonesia who voluntarily don plastic and metal chastity belts to protect themselves from rape and assault. In a country where rape is commonly used to terrorise Chinese women, who often enjoy a better standard of living than many local Indonesians, part of dressing to go out for many women includes wearing this protective device over their underwear. Even the belts aren't fail-safe: some rapists threaten to kill the women if they don’t provide the combination, however the precaution is worth trying. Many of these devices are sold and their use had become quite widespread among the Chinese community.

Image: Internet Archive Wayback Machine

A Chastity Belt for Doggies?

As reported by the Huffington Post in February, 2010, a dog breeder from Louisiana had a novel idea to play his part in preventing the overpopulation of dogs in the Deep South. Believing that desexing could be detrimental to the health of canines, or that some owners may in future wish to breed from their pets, he introduced his pet Anti-Breeding System (PABS): a belt made from polypropylene with an eight-buckle locking system. A washable mesh pad completed the contraption, intended to be worn by female dogs. This chastity belt for dogs would allow for normal toileting, but deny access for male dogs sniffing around for a little fun! The only downside? The mesh pad, not surprisingly, requires regular washing. Nice...

Image Sourced from PABSforPets.com

Chastity Belt – Fact or Fiction?

This week we’re stepping away from the “norm” as regards lingerie, underwear, and hosiery, and taking a look at an item we've possibly all heard about historically, even joked about – but which we may be uncertain as to whether it ever really existed:  the chastity belt.

What is a chastity belt? Put simply, it is an item of “clothing” which locks onto the body and prevents any possibility of sexual intercourse, and may be worn to protect the wearer from either temptation or rape (or both). Made from metal, some may have had padded linings. With or without this consideration, prolonged wear would result in great discomfort, wounds, infection, and even death from blood poisoning in extreme cases.

Modern myth tells us that the chastity belt was first used during the Crusades: Crusaders (ie, men), travelling to the Holy Lands in the 1100’s to fight in the Papal Wars, would lock their female partners (left at home) up in these contraptions which would allow no access for any kind of sexual activity. Hence, the women were forced to be faithful and chaste; one can assume the men placed no similar restrictions upon themselves! Many other references have been made historically, but there is no evidence that these were more than metaphorical and perhaps wishful thinking on the part of men of the time.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that such an item existed until well after this date. The first historical reference to a chastity belt comes from Renaissance poetry in the 1500’s, when asking a woman to wear such a device was a poet’s way of embarking on a “mutual” commitment of fidelity to each other (though the man never volunteered the same courtesy from himself).

While there are certainly poetic references to chastity belts from the sixteenth century, the first real chastity belts we have evidence of today were manufactured in the 1700’s. Surprisingly, they weren't actually designed to keep women sexually faithful: it seems they were designed as a way to prevent children from masturbating. Cruel? It seems so.

At about the same time, women started to participate in the workforce with the beginning of the Industrial revolution. Without any legal or practical protection against sexual assault, harassment and rape, some women may well have devised their own chastity belts of various designs in order to protect themselves from violation.

What is the role of the chastity belt in today’s society? Most commonly, these devices are popular as kink-wear in the BDSM community.

Fortunately, those at the extreme end of the abstinence-as-sex-education philosophy do not at this time lock their daughters up in chastity belts – though one could argue that the “purity” rings some fathers place on the fingers of their daughters while extracting formal promises of chastity until marriage to a man of the father’s choosing are a figurative “chastity belt”. What do you think?

And, surprisingly or not, women are still forced by men to wear chastity belts today: stay tuned...

The Importance of a Post Surgery Bra

While it’s not something most women consider unless or until it becomes a personal necessity, if surgery is ever required to the breast area, we can’t stress highly enough the importance of the correct post-surgery bra.

There are myriad reasons why a woman may undergo breast surgery. It may be for cosmetic reasons – an augmentation, a reduction, or a lift (mastopexy). It may be due to a diagnosis of breast cancer, resulting in a lumpectomy, or partial or full mastectomy, with or without reconstruction. Any specialist breast surgeon will agree that wearing the correct post-surgical breast garments will not only contribute to a more comfortable healing process, but complying with medical instructions in this way will help achieve the best possible outcome, with a reduced recovery time.

A post surgery bra will possess a range of specific criteria. If intended for the first phase of recovery, straight after surgery, it will compress the body evenly – this is very important to the recovery process. These garments will allow easy access for wound checking and dressing changes while the patient is still in the hospital.

Comfort is imperative. Most of these garments are made from soft, quality cotton which is flexible and non-irritating; many are without seams in the cups. Most are latex-free. The fact that they are wire-free is very important – both for comfort and also for proper circulation and lymphatic drainage during the healing process.

Wider-than-usual shoulder straps assist in the provision of comfort and maximum support. Some post-surgery bras pull on over the head; others will have front closures for ease of use. These can be either a lined hook-and-eye closure system or a zipper closure. Most do not have clips, buttons, or embellishments.

Many post-surgery bras include pockets in the cups designed to hold breast prostheses, which are commonly used by women after undergoing mastectomy if reconstruction is not an option, or not chosen.

A post-surgery bra is also important for wear by women undergoing radiation treatment to the breast. Over the course of treatment, which usually takes up to eight weeks, the breast will react as though sunburnt. This burn may be mild or severe, depending on the individual. The right garment during this time can make a big difference to both the level of pain or discomfort experienced, and also the recovery time after radiation treatment has been completed.

At Undiewarehouse we have a wide range of Post-Surgery Bras – check them out today.

A Brief History of Women’s Undies – Part 2

By the turn of the twentieth century, open-crotch knickers had fully made way for underwear that was closed at the crotch.  In the early 1900s, poorer women made their own knickers from old flour sacks, which must have rubbed and chafed, and been very uncomfortable! 

In 1910, rayon was first used in the manufacture of women’s underwear (at which time it was called “artificial silk”). Later, nylon was used as well.

Up until the 1920s, many women continued to wear knickers which extended to below the knee; during the 1920s, however, they became shorter so that by 1930 they came to mid-thigh. The fashion for flapping mini-dresses saw the design of panties in pastel colours for the first time – just to be that little bit more risqué.

In the 1930s, lastex was invented by the Dunlop Rubber Company. This combination of latex rubber and ammonia was eventually used by the brand now known as Playtex to make the women’s panty-girdle – these briefs were similar in style to today’s bicycle shorts and were considered to be supportive and hygienic.

 By 1940, most fashionable women wore briefs. These were still items which offered full coverage: the entire buttock area was covered and the garments extended to the top of the thigh. During World War II, British rationing required that many women again made their own knickers – this time from available parachute silk.

In 1949, American tennis player Gertrude Moran created a stir when she wore frilly panties to play at Wimbledon. This was considered very daring at the time and she was henceforth referred to as “Gussie” Moran or “Gorgeous Gussie”.

Women of the 1960s had become restrictive underwear, and panties went from being harshly shaping, purely functional, and uncomfortable, to a softer, prettier garment. These garments continued to become smaller and sexier into the 1970s. The modern thong-style of underwear was designed in the 1970s. It is now amongst the best-selling of women’s underwear styles.

These days underwear is marketed along the lines of sex appeal rather than functionality, though it continues to serve function as it always has. While hygienic protection of outer clothing from soiling, as well as comfort, warmth, and modesty are considerations, some underwear is also worn for erotic effect. And as cyclical as things invariably are, one can still find crotchless styles – over one hundred years since their everyday use ceased being fashionable.